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A month or so ago I asked on here about the pros and cons of press fitting and I said that I'd post a review after using it for a while.
I purchased a used Rems Akku-Press with 15mm, 22mm and 28mm tongs and it came in a sturdy case with two batteries and a charger. It's a heavy unit when the tongs and battery are fitted, but still very usable, and besides it was fairly cheap and I only wanted a starter unit to test out press fitting first without having to spend over a grand on a new machine.
I also purchased a varied selection of 15mm Xpress fittings, to try them out. The 15mm fittings are good value, when compared to plastic and copper push fit fittings, but not so good value when size increases from 22mm and up.
The machine is ideal for installation work where access is readily available. It's not so good for joining pipework under restricted areas such as a kitchen sink base unit. The joints are very strong, 100% water tight, and they well just look much better than soldered joints in my opinion. They are non removable. A big plus for me was that as I mainly work in older buildings where nine times out of ten, stop cocks and valves rarely fully close, I could quickly make a fully watertight joint even with water passing through the pipework. No more bread in the pipeline or waiting for water to stop so that I could solder.
However, I also use Yorkshire Tectite Sprint, which are non removable copper pushfits. These are in my opinion first class and far superior to their plastic counterparts. They are very similar in size and appearance to press fit fittings. I've found myself using these in restricted areas such as under kitchen sinks and also using them in conjunction with the Xpress fittings by pressing tees etc. out of place and fitting one or the other, or both in situ, but obviously never joining the two fittings. Both Tectite and Xpress compliment each other on copper pipework and I rarely find the need to solder or use plastic. They don't tarnish either like a soldered fitting tends to do.
So the big plus for me is a 95% reduction in soldering, meaning no gas torch or having to sign hot works permits. Compression fittings are also being used much less, except for valves and imperial pipework connections. Pegler Yorkshire do not currently make an imperial to metric press fit fitting as I asked their technical support for info on this. For larger more accessible installs, press fitting is ideal. For less accessible domestic installs, I'll still be mainly using Tectite or a combo of both. I would however not use either type of fitting in a concealed area, such as a cavity wall or under a floor as I prefer the security of solder to an "O" ring.
All in all, I'm impressed with the simplicity of press fitting and both the appearance and tightness of the joints. Would I spend lots of hard earned money on a new machine? The jury is still out on that one.
I purchased a used Rems Akku-Press with 15mm, 22mm and 28mm tongs and it came in a sturdy case with two batteries and a charger. It's a heavy unit when the tongs and battery are fitted, but still very usable, and besides it was fairly cheap and I only wanted a starter unit to test out press fitting first without having to spend over a grand on a new machine.
I also purchased a varied selection of 15mm Xpress fittings, to try them out. The 15mm fittings are good value, when compared to plastic and copper push fit fittings, but not so good value when size increases from 22mm and up.
The machine is ideal for installation work where access is readily available. It's not so good for joining pipework under restricted areas such as a kitchen sink base unit. The joints are very strong, 100% water tight, and they well just look much better than soldered joints in my opinion. They are non removable. A big plus for me was that as I mainly work in older buildings where nine times out of ten, stop cocks and valves rarely fully close, I could quickly make a fully watertight joint even with water passing through the pipework. No more bread in the pipeline or waiting for water to stop so that I could solder.
However, I also use Yorkshire Tectite Sprint, which are non removable copper pushfits. These are in my opinion first class and far superior to their plastic counterparts. They are very similar in size and appearance to press fit fittings. I've found myself using these in restricted areas such as under kitchen sinks and also using them in conjunction with the Xpress fittings by pressing tees etc. out of place and fitting one or the other, or both in situ, but obviously never joining the two fittings. Both Tectite and Xpress compliment each other on copper pipework and I rarely find the need to solder or use plastic. They don't tarnish either like a soldered fitting tends to do.
So the big plus for me is a 95% reduction in soldering, meaning no gas torch or having to sign hot works permits. Compression fittings are also being used much less, except for valves and imperial pipework connections. Pegler Yorkshire do not currently make an imperial to metric press fit fitting as I asked their technical support for info on this. For larger more accessible installs, press fitting is ideal. For less accessible domestic installs, I'll still be mainly using Tectite or a combo of both. I would however not use either type of fitting in a concealed area, such as a cavity wall or under a floor as I prefer the security of solder to an "O" ring.
All in all, I'm impressed with the simplicity of press fitting and both the appearance and tightness of the joints. Would I spend lots of hard earned money on a new machine? The jury is still out on that one.
